


All That Remains

by WaltzingFuriosa



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Dishonored 2, Drabble, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 00:07:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16821175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaltzingFuriosa/pseuds/WaltzingFuriosa
Summary: Emily never really talks about her mother, and Meagan doesn't ask. After all  what is there to say? Everyone knows what happened, Meagan more so that most. But, on one clear, peaceful day on the Dreadful Whale, Emily decides to share something that has been nagging her for a while. A very brief exchange between Emily and Meagan to pass the time.





	All That Remains

"I can't remember her face, you know.“ Emily said, unprompted, as she gazed out towards the endless ocean.The Dreadful Whale rose and fell gently in the current.

Of course Meagan knew exactly who Emily was talking about. She turned to face the other woman, the corner of her mouth quirked upwards ever so slightly. “Even though it can be found emblazoned on the very coins in your pocket?”

Emily laughed, her eyes still fixed somewhere on the horizon. "That's just it." She put her hands on the railing. "Most people only knew from her portraits. They knew her as the Empress, a serious figure hanging on a wall. A name on a long list of people. But that wasn’t her… at least not all of her.”

Meagan remained silent. She wasn't used to having Emily talk so openly about her mother. She wasn't sure she liked it.

"I try to remember her as my mother,” she continued, finally turning her head to look at Meagan. “As the woman who taught me how to tie a ribbon in my hair, who would take me on walks through the castle corridors when I couldn’t sleep, who would stay awake all night worrying about the plague."

"I try to remember her as she was, alive and vivid and loving and flawed. But whenever I try to picture her face... all I can seem to manage is a damn painting.”

**Author's Note:**

> "But what a fine painting it was." I imagine Sokolov might say, if he were listening.
> 
> I always wondered what image Emily thought of when she thought of Jessamine. Would she be able to hold on to the happy memories of her youth? Would her memories of her mother be overpowered by that final, horrific moment just before her death? Or would it all be obliterated with time and trauma, until, in the end all that remains of her mother are the portraits that hang in the halls of Dunwall Tower?
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
